this morning at a bp gas field in response to france's military -- the obama administration was quick to react. the u.s. official told me this afternoon that as of now the attack appeared organized. as we have been reporting for many months al qaeda inspired and linked groups are flourishing. we spoke to a military leader in the islamist group which has taken over and terized northern mali. he is working with one of the most senior leaders in africa who has claimed responsibility for today's attack. the fate of the hostages, they are at risk because things have to change. we cover the story from every angle and we will be speaking with mike rogers and chairman ed rice. we begin with cnn pentagon correspondent. this has been developing throughout the day and we have been struggling to chase this down and get the details. the u.s. government says it is taking the lead on the hostage situation. what is it doing tonight to make sure that the americans being held hostage are safe. >> the first thing they gave was to get satellite surveillance over that area which means that the fbi can now monitor

to france military offensive. the obama administration was quick to react. leon panetta called it a terrorist attack. a u.s. official told me as of now the attack appeared organized, not spontaneous. al qaeda linked groups are flourishing. we spoke to a leader in the islamic group. he is working with one of al qaeda's most senior leaders, mokhtar mel mokhtar. >> the fate of these hostages, they are at risk, because things have to change. that's what he said. tonight, we cover the story from every angle. we will be speaking with mike rogers and ed royce. >>> we begin with cnn pentagon correspondent, chris lawrence. obviously, this has been developing throughout the day. we have been struggling to chase this down and get the details. the u.s. government says it is taking the lead on the hostage situation. what is it doing to make sure the americans who are being held hostage are safe? >> erin, the first thing they did was to get some satellite surveillance over that area which means that the fbi can now monitor to some extent what is happening on the grown. the next thing the u.s

they will pose a threat. the obama administration to say this was a terrorist attack immediately. are they doing a good job handling this one? >> it is too early to tell. this is a difficult one. i'm not going to say that. when you have a group like this that is clearly well-organized, i think it was pre-planned, that had this much success with this many hostages. this is as hard a problem as it gets on the ground to unwind. the outcomes of these are not always great. that said, what we don't have is an overarching policy. this is what many of us have been talking about. mali is the first victim of libya, because of the weapon cashes that were raided and the inability of anyone to stop those weapons and people. you had tune you had tu nearbyians coming down. you have all of this converging together. it makes it a very, have he dangerous recipe. that's why you can't just handle mali or benghazi. you have to have an overarching plan that puts pressure on these groups. you can't just fire a few missiles and pack up and go home and hope for the best. it is not going to work. this is a can of worms.

. erin? >> all right, thanks very much to you, mary. >>> "outfront" next, the obama administration very concerned about the terror threat in northern africa, warning americans to stay away. >>> and later, facebook's ceo likes chris christie. i know where those two met. will the other tech leaders throw their support behind the gop? >>> welcome back to the second half of "outfront." we start with stories where we focus on reporting from the front lines. we begin with north korea, which warns it plans to carry out a nuclear test that targets the united states, the supposed sworn enemy of the korean people. in the u.s., meanwhile, defense secretary leon panetta says he's very concerned with north korea's continuing provocative behavior, but says that the u.s. is fully prepared to deal with. gordon chang, though, the author of "nuclear showdown: north korea takes on the world" says panetta's remarks are refreshingly candid, but says we should be paying attention, because north korea's words are an escalation in the rhetoric, and this time he thinks north korea has the capability to actually

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